Tuesday, 11 August 2015

Blaine Reed Meteorites For Sale- List 177

Blaine Reed Meteorites For Sale- List 177

Blaine ReedP.O. Box 1141Delta, CO 81416Ph/fax (970) 874-1487

…………………………………………………..LIST 177

August 11, 2015

Dear collectors,

This was supposed to go out last week but I was to busy catching up from being gone for the Creede show (I just now got finished unpacking and putting things away from the show)– I had a pile of work waiting for me when I got home.

CHICO, New Mexico: (L6) impact melt. Found January 1954. Tkw = 105 kilograms.Most of this large stone was typical (L6) material/ texture. However, about 1/3 of it had a weird slaggy look to it (super fine texture, rounded metal blebs, vesicles and a weird greenish gray color). Interestingly, I had a large (400g) piece of this in Tucson and quickly sold it. Luckily, I picked up a small bag of small part slices a day or so later. These are what I have here (I put them in the drawer at the show). These are all from the impact melt/ slaggy portion of this meteorite. 1) Part slices:a) 2.5 grams – 22mm x 8mm x 5mm - $15b) 5.6 grams – 28mm x 15mm x 5mm - $34c) 11.1 grams – 37mm x 27mm x 5mm - $65d) 18.0 grams – 37mm x 32mm x 5mm - $100

MOLDAVITE:To be honest, this is certainly not a great looking piece. It clearly has some ancient fracturing and little in the way of surface texture/ etching. I suspect that this is a stream bed recovery. The one thing interesting about it though is its source. The previous owner got it from Science Graphics, which was Richard Norton. Unfortunately, no card came with it (but then I don’t recall any of the Science Graphics specimens in this collection having any labels with them). 4.1 gram fragment as found – 22mm x 17mm x 9mm - $25

NWA 6950:Lunar meteorite. Gabbro. Found June 2011. Tkw = 1649 grams.I had slices of this meteorite on my January 2015 mailed list. I nearly sold out – only having a couple .25 to .5g pieces left after the orders died off from that mailing. Luckily, I was able to pick up more of this in Tucson. So, if you thought about ordering a piece off of that list but delayed or forgot, I now have pieces of most sizes available once again. These crumbs and fragments are from my preparing larger (4 or 5g) pieces into those smaller sizes. This is a capsule containing dust, crumbs and fragments. Certainly nothing super exciting, but certainly something that should be tossed aside. .08 grams of dust crumbs and fragments in a capsule - $30

NWA 8159: Martian (augite basalt). Found 2013. Tkw = 149.5 grams.Here is one that (despite what some may say) I discovered. It was in the “likely trash” pile of rocks that the owner had brought to my room in Denver 2013. We had few customers and lots of flooding (which was why we had few customers) so I willingly ran a bunch of interesting things on my XRF to help sort things out. I commented that this one was a meteorite as it showed obvious shock veins. Thankfully, the thing was cut open so I could run a cut surface (I generally don’t fully trust weathered surfaces as their chemistry can be pretty goofed up). I expected to see data for a eucrite come up (as that is pretty much what this looked like). However, the data (Fe/Mn ratio, P, etc.) came up as Martian! Obviously, a piece of this quickly got sent in for research. When that got done it turned out that not only was this a Martian, it was a NEW TYPE of Martian! I was promised a good piece of this. What I did get was a 2g block that I cut up and have already sold all of but these “pieces” here (if you want real specimens you’ll need to contact Eegooblago Meteorites. I think he is the only one with this material to sell). I am not certain what they are asking for this material at this point. It started at $5k/g went to $8159/g (matching its NWA number) and I was told (but did not look into it) it was now $10k/g. Really high on first glance, but I know a decent amount of “Black Beauty” (of which there is a whole lot more of) sold for this and higher. a) .11g of powder salvaged from cutting of this material in a vial - $225

PHILIPPINITE: Rizalite. Tektite from the Philippine Islands.This is another specimen that was part of a collection I bought over a year ago. It is also one I sold the previous owner back in 1989. The “card” the previous owner had with this had the note “Excellent grooving”. And it indeed does show this. A neat and quite rare specimen these days. 83.3 gram complete “individual” as found – 60mm x 40mm x 27mm - $115

TISSINT, Morocco: Martian (olivine-phyric shergottite). Fell July 18, 2011. Tkw = around 7 kilograms.Here are a couple really fresh fragments that have really bright and shiny fusion crust covering about 1/3 of the specimen. I saw very little of this material available in Tucson this year and the prices were substantially higher than even what they were in Denver the September before. I guess this strewn field is already pretty much worked out. I also recall that there was some announcement concerning organics that might be associated with life were recently found in some pieces of this fall (I’m sure that did anything but make this stuff more affordable). Anyway, here is a chance to pick up a great little piece (or two).1) Fragments with fusion crust:a) .330 grams – 9mm x 5mm x 5mm - $300b) .402 grams – 9mm x 6mm x 6mm - $360